Post-Baby Comeback Training Update: the final update

Last week I hit 26 miles for the week. It's the most miles I've run in almost a year and that week was the week of Reach the Beach. During my pregnancy my runs hovered in the 15-22 range and then started dropping as I became more and more pregnant. It's been a while since I was in the "building mileage" phase considering that most of last summer I "took it easy," trying to rehab tendonitis in my calf. Twenty six miles felt good, on Sunday I went out for a quick easy run and felt like I could have done more. It was good to end on that note: feeling like I had more in the tank. Training feels "normal" now. My body feels solid and ready for an increased training load.

Here's how last week broke down:

Monday: (early morning) 3.0 mi; 9:07 pace I took my recovery run to the beach and ran easy as a recovery run after Sunday's eight miler. I finished off with 6xstrides barefoot on the beach. I did a bit of core and PT after the run: clamshells, prone leg raise, plank and curl ups/roll downs.

Tuesday: (late afternoon) Strength. I did two rounds of each of these sets with 10-20 reps each.

Set 1: 4 square single leg hops, high knees, mountain climbers, standing single leg raise, push ups

Set 2: squat jumps, butt kicks, curl ups, bird dogs, dips

Wednesday: (early morning) 6.0 mi; 8:52 pace Another gorgeous sunrise run. I felt so sluggish and tired. I didn't sleep well thanks to being up with Liam and once I got running I realized I was really hungry. So I plodded along and then I woke up and picked up the pace for the last three miles. Everyone was still sleeping when I got home so I finished up with planks, side planks and a few PT core moves.

Thursday: (mid morning) 4.0 mi; 9:14 pace I took Jack and Sophia out in the double for a stroller run along the beach. We ran into the wind on the way back and it was work, especially on the section of beach where the sand gets a little soft.

Friday: (early morning) 10 mi; 8:39 Another run with a sluggish start. I slogged through the first seven miles and then something clicked in the last three and I was able to pick up the pace for a strong finish. I finished feeling really strong considering how I felt when I started. The longest run postpartum in the books.

Saturday: rest day

Sunday: (early morning) 3 mi; 8:55 I ran two miles easy and then followed it up with 8x strides to make three miles. I felt like I could have gone further, but it was good to finish the week feeling strong.

Looking ahead for the next month my goal is to maintain and weekly long run of 10 miles and continue to build weekly mileage by making my weekday runs longer. In September I'll add in track sessions and lengthen the weekend long run working up to a long run of 15 miles. I've got a tentative 10K on the calendar at the end of September, I'm hoping that with weekly mileage built up and a few track sessions under my belt this 10K (another hilly one, but without the triple stroller) will be a good gauge of where I am with my physical fitness.

I've hit the three month postpartum mark and though my journey back to fitness isn't over, this will be the last dedicated training update post. From here on out my focus will be building mileage, maintaining strength and getting ready to really race in the spring. If you want to track my training you can check out my Daily Mile, where I log all my workouts.

--Sarah

I love connecting with readers! You can find me here:

Email: RunFarGirl [at] gmail [dot] com

Twitter: @RunFarGirl

Instagram: instagram.com/runfargirl

Facebook: Facebook.com/runfargirl262

Pinterest: pinterest.com/runfargirl

Daily Mile: dailymile.com/people/scanney